So this is Life
by AnAngelUnableToLove
Summary: High school life... Everyone has it hard. Summary at the beginning of first chapter. Rated T for language, violence and use of illegal substances. Please R&R!
1. The end of a perfect weekend

This is my first high school AU. I don't know what compels me to write it, but I've been bored and I don't want to work on my other story. Anyway, Kaoru is a punk/ Goth wannabe who is just trying to fit in, and Kenshin is a gamer nerd who wants nothing to do with her. His best friend, Sano, is almost a street racer, and Sano's girlfriend Misao is a ninja of sorts who pines for another man. That man happens to be (of course) Aoshi, who happens to be Kaoru's quiet and artistic older brother. Megumi is a girl with a bad reputation for toying with guys and dealing drugs, but has a secret fear of actually getting involved with anyone. Her 'friend' Tomoe is an emotionally abusive prep who uses Megumi to feel better about herself. Soujiro is the new kid, so we don't know much about him yet. Let's get started…

"Hey, Kenshin, check these out!"

"Hold on a second, Sano… Shit, I got killed by Flonne _again!_ What is it?"

Sano triumphantly held up one of a set of fancy new rims. "What do you think?"

"Very nice. Now which of your vast amount of cars are you going to put _those_ on?"

"Hey, shut up. I'm working on it alright? This stuff is all for when I get my car, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever." Kenshin turned back to Makai Kingdom. "To hell with this. I'm getting out my Gameshark. I found a cheat on the Internet that's supposed to level you up to the highest level possible once you strike an enemy. Unless you want to play me in Soul Calibur III?"

Sano shook his head "Nah. You always kill me with Mitsturugi."

"Well, if you'd choose a faster character, you might win once in a while."

"Hey, Nightmare's cool!"

"Is not. He's so slow, it's not even funny. I mean, that's okay if you know how to use slow characters, but you really don't. And he's possibly the ugliest character in the game, excepting Astaroth and Voldo. _Lizardman_ is better looking. You know, I once saw a fan comic where Nightmare was gay. Funny as hell."

"No way. Who with?"

"Mitsurugi."

"Oh, that is funny."

"Yeah."

"But, his weapon is really cool."

"Uh, we've been through this before. If you have to use a character with the huge- ass sword, use Siegfried. His voice is better and he isn't ugly as sin."

"But his lines are gay!"

"If you'd been possessed by a demonic sword for the past four years, slaughtering innocents mercilessly, with almost no control over your own body, you'd probably be saying the same things he does. I mean, unless you like slaughtering innocents mercilessly. Anyway, are you going to play or not?"

"Only if you don't use Mitsurugi."

"Alright, I'll use Tira."

"That's just as bad if not worse!"

"Talim? Setsuka? Cassandra? Sophitia? Taki? WELL WHAT CHARACTER CAN I USE!" Cried Kenshin, as Sano shook his head at every suggestion.

"We'll use the same character. And, since you're so set on him, we'll use Siegfried. Alright?"

"Fine. Get ready to be owned."

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"AOSHI! Have you seen my CD!"

Aoshi looked over at his younger sister, who had just flung open the door and upset the gentle quiet of his room. He sighed and put down his pencil. "Which one?"

Kaoru was already digging through Aoshi's carefully sorted notebooks and art supplies. "You know… That one…"

Aoshi didn't know which one, but he did know that every step Kaoru took left a trail of wreckage in its wake. Now she was rifling through his clothing.

"I don't know which one, and I probably don't have it anyway. I don't listen to your music."

This was very true. If by some unheard of coincidence, he happened to like one of her CDs, he would go out to buy it for himself, so that it could be filed away in alphabetical order with the rest of his music. Kaoru was quite the opposite. She preferred to have her music sorted by means of tossing it down wherever she happened to be. This resulted in a carpet of CDs in her room, most of which would have a very short lifespan.

Suddenly, she jumped up. "I think I know where it might be!" She rushed off, leaving Aoshi to clean up the destruction left by Hurricane Kaoru. It was only a few moments later that he heard a snapping sound and a cry of despair from the next room. She returned holding the sought CD. In two pieces.

"Well, it looks like you found it. What are you going to do now?"

"Buy another one, I guess."

"You don't have any money left."

"Oh. Right. Aaaooooshiiii?" She asked sweetly, turning puppy eyes on him.

Aoshi was unaffected. "No."

"Aw, come on! You have money! Share, share!"

"I'm saving it. And anyway, I just bought you that Chinese dress last month."

"Can I have the CD instead?"

"No, the dress is already paid for. And I'm not returning it. You should be happy with it. Do you know how much that cost?"

"No."

"Well, trust me, you could have bought nine CDs for the price of that one dress. And you haven't even worn it yet."

Kaoru sighed as Aoshi went back to his drawing.

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Megumi jumped as her cellphone rang. Half- expecting a customer, she answered. "Hello?"

"_Megumi? It's Tomoe. I'm coming over." _click

Megumi sighed as she flicked the phone closed. Of course Tomoe didn't ask if Megumi already had plans, or if she was busy. Not that she did have plans, but it would be nice if Tomoe thought of someone else once in a while. Megumi shrugged it off. It wasn't like Tomoe was going to change anytime soon, and, apart from her customers, she was Megumi's only friend.

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Misao gazed out over the world, from her position on the rooftop. The ground seemed far away, as it always did fro up here. She braced herself for the jump, and then suddenly backed down. She wasn't ready. Physically, she knew she could take the jump, but psychologically she was still unsure. Giving up, she climbed back down. _Maybe tomorrow… _With a grimace, she remembered tomorrow was Monday. School… It just took time away from her 'training'. Oh well.

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Soujiro watched the fields roll by, sitting in the car next to his social worker. Another one… Always passed from foster family to foster family, Soujiro kept his outward appearance upbeat. He never questioned why no one seemed to want to keep him, but inside it tore at him. He tried so hard, but soon there was always a phone call and Ryuuzaki- san came to tell him that it hadn't worked out. "They just don't know how to handle children" she always said. Soujiro didn't bother telling her he hadn't felt like a child for years. And so, as time passed, he changed hands again and again…

Chapter One, end.

If anyone has any questions, I'll try to answer them.

_Is this a Kenshin/Kaoru fic?_

Uh, probably not. I'm not sure.

_How about Sano and Megumi?_

Nope.

_Misao and Aoshi?_

shakes head

_Misao and Soujiro?_

Dunno.

_Wait, this isn't a Yaoi/ Yuri fic, is it?_

Not to my knowledge. Any more questions?

…_no…_

Okay. Anyway, I'm REALLY sorry for not posting on my other story… Just not motivated…

Thanks to WeaselGirlSama for telling me about the Soul Calibur comic!


	2. Monday morning

The car slowed and turned into a driveway. Soujiro looked up at the house in front of him.

"This is your new home Soujiro. Doesn't it look nice?"

He stared at the house, while Ryuuzaki- san got out to get his things out of the trunk. Nice… A nice home. He got out to help her. He didn't have much; moving around as he did; he didn't accumulate a lot of stuff. He carried it to the porch and waved good-bye as she pulled out of the driveway. Then, he turned and opened the door.

Home…

Then the door shut, and the hell began.

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Megumi groaned and collapsed on her bed after Tomoe left. She was just too much to deal with. Such a tiring person… So self- centered. Megumi still had orders that needed to be filled out, but she didn't care. She considered not going to school the following day. But no, too many customers were expecting her. She sat up, and got back to work, carefully measuring out each amount, before placing it in a small bag and labeling it with the identification numbers of the customers and what was inside the bag. It was going to be another long night.

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Sano awoke on Kenshin's couch, to the sound of the redhead's mutterings. God, didn't that kid ever sleep? After sufficiently beating Sano multiple times in Soul Calibur, he had moved on to Ace Combat Zero. Now, he was playing some racing game. Sano shook his shoulder, and Kenshin jumped.

"Yo, it's morning. School's gonna start. We gotta get going. Come on."

"Yeah, I guess. Let me save first."

Sano yawned, and went to get his stuff. Of all the times he had come over to Kenshin's house, he couldn't remember him sleeping. Maybe he only slept when there was no one around? Maybe he slept during school. Sano didn't know, and he was too tired to think about it. The weekend was over, and school was beginning again.

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Misao sat at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in her hands. She wasn't even sure why she was drinking it, she felt perfectly awake, she had been for hours already. It certainly wasn't for the taste. After a moments thought, she left it on the table, hoping someone else would drink it.

She jogged down her driveway, and then did some stretches. Her mother was always saying she should join a sports team, since she seemed so athletic. But Misao's reasons for choosing art classes over sports went farther than not wanting to hang out with preps and jocks. It was more to the fact that her Aoshi- sama was an art student, and she created every situation possible for them to be together.

_Even though he doesn't seem to know I exist…_

But Misao was ever faithful that one day she would be discovered, if not for her art talent. She really wouldn't have minded art so much, if she had been any good at it. The fact simply was, she wasn't. She hoped to get up the nerve to ask Aoshi- sama to help her. But she hadn't yet.

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Aoshi glanced into Kaoru's room. _Still asleep… she's going to be late if she doesn't get up soon._

He sighed and gently prodded her shoulder.

"Kaoru, it's time to get up, you're going to be late."

She groaned and rolled over, muttering to herself.

"I'm serious this time. You need to get up; we have to leave any minute. We're going to miss the train."

Still muttering, Kaoru sat up and stumbled out of bed. Aoshi left her groping for her clothes.

A few moments later, he returned, to find her back in bed.

"Okay, fine. You can stay in bed, but I have to go now."

At that Kaoru leaped out of bed. It's only when Aoshi says he has to leave that it means she really needs to get going. Scrabbling around, she called for him to wait, hopping down the stairs with one shoe on. He's already gotten her school things together, and made her lunch. He hands them to her as she yanks her jacket on.

"Kaoru, am I your mother?"

"No."

"Then why must we go through with this every morning?"

Kaoru shrugged. "Because you put up with it every morning."

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Soujiro's eyes snapped open. Morning… What time was it? The last echoes of dreams faded away, even as he tried to catch them. He was scared. A nightmare? He couldn't remember.

It occurred to him that he was lying on the floor, but he didn't know why. He started to sit up, hissing at the throbbing pain on his left side and along his arm. Pushing his sleeve up, he saw his left arm was lined with bruises. Getting shakily up, he stumbled to the kitchen. He had to get to a phone…

Hands trembling, he dialed the number and waited, feeling calmer already. On the other end, the phone was picked up.

"Hello?"

"Ryuuzaki- san? It's Soujiro. I need to-"

The line went dead.

Soujiro turned to face his new foster mother. The disconnected phone cord hung limp in her hand. Her other hand delivered a back- handed slap that sent him staggering.

"You are not to use the phone. You will earn your phone privileges. Is that clear?"

Soujiro nodded, unsure if he would get in more trouble by looking her in the eyes, or by looking away. He settled on a submissive, downcast look. She said nothing more, and he relaxed as her footsteps retreated. Then he tensed again as he heard another voice.

"So, you're the new one?"

He looked up to see a pale girl with smooth black hair and dark eyes staring at him.

"Who are you?"

"You won't do too well here with such forward questions as that. But, to answer it, my name is Tomoe, and I'll be your older sister starting today."

"Are you a foster child?"

"Nope. I got adopted by these psychos. But don't tell them I said that. Obviously you've experienced why. Speaking of which…" She strode towards him. Gently, so as not to cause further injury, she took his jaw in her hand and turned his head so she could see the damage.

"Yeah, she really got you. You're lip's split. And those damn manicured nails don't help. Hold on, I'll get you fixed up."

So saying, she sat him down at the kitchen table, and began to pull out all manner of bandages and disinfectants.

Soujiro was confused. In almost every house he had been in, it was a constant battle between the kids, as each fought for the parents' affection. But this house, and this girl, were different.

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because I'm assuming that you'd do the same for me. Because, in this house, you need allies to survive. And because, for as long as you're here, it's going to be us versus them.

Chapter two, end.

Ahhh, good to have another chapter done! –stretches- Mmmm, questions?

_How old are the characters?_

Kenshin, Sano, Misao, Soujiro, and Kaoru are all 15-16. Aoshi, Megumi, and Tomoe are 17-19

_Who is the protagonist of this story?_

Uh, there isn't one. I tried to make all the characters fairly likeable, except Soujiro's parents. But they don't count. Tomoe you'll either love or you'll hate, depending on who you tend to favor more, Soujiro or Megumi. She doesn't seem that bad yet, but she'll get worse. ; I tried to have one character to represent each of the high school cliques.

Kenshin- gamer

Sano- tuner

Kaoru- punk?

Aoshi- artist

Misao- athletics?

Megumi- the girl people spread rumors about

Tomoe- She's sorta preppy, I guess

Soujiro- lonely, abused kid. (poor little guy)

_Who's your favorite character?_

Well, Soujiro's parts are, so far, the most fun to write. But I like Kenshin and Aoshi, because they possess my 'clique- defining' traits (gaming and drawing).

_Do you like this story?_

Uh, yeah. I'm not bored of it yet, at least. I just wish other people liked it… Second chapter and no reviews yet! sob

So, please people. Be kind. Review.


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